JayN7 BlogJayN7 Bloghttp://www.gameinformer.com/blogs/members/b/jayn7_blog/atom.aspxCommunity Server2013-02-12T12:47:00ZWhat Makes a Good MMORPG?/blogs/members/b/jayn7_blog/archive/2013/02/24/what-makes-a-good-mmorpg.aspx2013-02-24T13:19:00Z2013-02-24T13:19:00Z<p>
<p>I have been on a bit of an MMO kick as far as topic go lately. But that is simply because I am really starting to get excited for ESO and a potential Beta invite! (Here&rsquo;s to hoping.) So today I thought I would go over the things I thought made a high quality MMO. Its not solely based on my opinion but also on discussions around various gaming communities.</p>
<p><strong>Community Interaction</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/eldenrootconcept.jpg"><img height="427" width="960" src="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/eldenrootconcept.jpg" alt="eldenrootconcept" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-208" /></a></p>
<p>The social part of an MMORPG is what sets it apart from most single player games. In fact the depth of the social interactions on most MMORPGs set them apart from most other MMO play-styles such as FPS. A good MMO must have quality community interaction. That means very different things now than it did back in 2004 when the king of MMO&rsquo;s was being established.</p>
<p>In a current day MMO, players should no longer have to worry about kill-stealing or ninja-looting. The technology and interaction is there to give credit where credit is due players, even scaling the exp received based on your participation in a fight is capable of being done. With those community kills, should come community loot. If you and someone else are on the same quest, trying to loot the same thing, the game should not penalize you for working together by making you kill twice as much stuff so you both get all the loot. Instead, both players should get loot. Most of the time, its not an immersion breaker for each person to get the same loot from one kill.</p>
<p>Current day MMOs should come standard with some kind of group assist tool. Something to help players find a group of like-minded players wanting to take on the same challenge. Most casual MMO players aren&rsquo;t going to want to explore ruins hoping to come across someone in the same area who can help, and they aren&rsquo;t going to want to search for groups in public chat for hours on end either. And easy to use Looking For tool should be implemented into the game, although I am up in the air on the decision of whether it should automatically group you or not. Maybe a notification system letting you know other players are in the public dungeon area, or that they are also looking to group up for other content.</p>
<p><strong>In-depth Gameplay and Content</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/alikrdesertconcept.jpg"><img height="403" width="906" src="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/alikrdesertconcept.jpg" alt="alik&#39;rdesertconcept" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-206" /></a></p>
<p>In today&rsquo;s gaming world, lackluster gameplay is only going to appeal to so many players. Gamers want to experience gameplay tha&rsquo;ts skill based, different for every encounter, and most of all: challenging. A lot of players get bored of doing the same rotations over and over again, relying on the same cooldowns and everything been very repetitive. Predictable AI tactics are a no-no too. Random and unique interactions are going to keep your player base engaged and continuously coming back. The ultimate fact is, cooldowns are unnecessary. Realism and real-action combat are being implemented in MMOs today (see TERA) where it has more of a feel of a single player experience than past MMOs. &nbsp;In my opinion, the days of shot rotations, and min/maxing cooldowns needs to come to an end. It becomes more and more difficult for me to get on World of Warcraft and just press the same buttons over and over and kill the same things in the same way with no though to strategy or tactics.</p>
<p>When making an MMO, quality leveling content is essential but perhaps even more important is sustainable endgame content. In MMOs the game should really start once you get to max level, not end (see SWTOR.) If the best part of the game is the leveling experience, then players will levels their character and be done. Maybe level a couple, but not enough to keep a healthy subscriber base. At a game&rsquo;s release there should be challenging, engaging, and most of all&nbsp;<em>progressive</em>&nbsp;endgame content. If endgame content is easy, or doesn&rsquo;t get more difficult the father you get into it, players will quickly master it and move on to something else. There is simply no other way around it. And even then, in today&rsquo;s MMOs, developers can&rsquo;t put out content fast enough for players. There will always be those groups who master the content quickly and end up farming it for the next few months while they wait for more content to come out.</p>
<p>Included in this topic should be character development. A player&rsquo;s character should feel like their own and not a cookie-cutter set up in order to maximize effectiveness. I hate it when I have to tell people in my raiding guild that their set up is not maxed out and they need to change it for the good of the group. They made those choices and they wanted their character to be that certain way, and now I&rsquo;m telling them that they have to change it. It&rsquo;s not really fair to them, but if they don&rsquo;t do it, then its not fair to the group as a whole. A player should have the ability to make a character their own way and use their own chosen abilities and still be effective in the way they play based on skill and not because they chose the optimal build.</p>
<p><strong>Player vs. Player</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/bosmertreehengeconcept.jpg"><img height="480" width="960" src="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/bosmertreehengeconcept.jpg" alt="bosmertreehengeconcept" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-207" /></a></p>
<p>This is a unique aspect to MMOs and should not be taken lightly, nor neglected during development. PvP players will make up a good amount of your player base and should not be ignored for PvE players, or vice versa. A good MMO will implement two kinds of PvP play; large scale, and small scale. Large scale PvP will consist of large amounts of players competing over one area for certain objectives. Elder Scrolls Online has already advertised this with their open world PvP area of Cyrodiil, which will be one of the largest areas of the game. Small scale PvP should be individuals or small group teams competing directly against each other in Arena type matches to determine which group is superior in head-to-head battle. This allows for more competitiveness on an individual scale and the formation of teams in order to improve their standing.</p>
<p>In an MMO there should be a way to keep track of how well players do against each other. If there is no record of how well you do in PvP, then nothing ever really happened. In order for PvP players to keep coming back they have to have some way to compare themselves against other players. This way, they will have motivation to keep improving or keep themselves on top.</p>
<p><strong>Miscellaneous</strong></p>
<p>A good MMO should have a quality crafting and profession system. Something that provides depth and content to do during downtime. Crafting should be extensive and be able to provide top of the line gear, but by having to farm difficult to obtain materials and it should be something as time consuming as getting the top of the line gear elsewhere.</p>
<p>A good MMO should reward exploration, and moving beyond the beaten track. Those people who like to see every nook and cranny are usually punish for it by taking longer to level their characters, why should this be necessary. Reward the explorers just as much as you reward the power-levelers.</p>
<p><a href="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/ESOHeavyArmorConcept.jpg"><img height="403" width="906" src="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/ESOHeavyArmorConcept.jpg" alt="ESOHeavyArmorConcept" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-209" /></a></p>
<p>I am sure there are things I have neglected to mention in here but I feel like this should provide a good baseline towards a quality MMO that will be successful and keep players around for more than a few months. I believe Elder Scrolls Online is on the right track towards making a quality game like this. Here&rsquo;s to hoping they keep listening to reasonable fans and provide positive feedback to the wishes of players.</p>
<p>What do you think makes up a good MMO? Leave me a comment and we can discuss.</p>
<p>~Jay</p>
<p>Thanks to [<a href="http://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en/media/concept-art">Elder Scrolls Online</a>] for the Concept Art pictures for ESO!</p>
</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.gameinformer.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=2609945" width="1" height="1">JayN7http://www.gameinformer.com/members/JayN7/default.aspxMMO Pay Structures: The Pros And Cons/blogs/members/b/jayn7_blog/archive/2013/02/23/mmo-pay-structures-the-pros-and-cons.aspx2013-02-23T12:39:00Z2013-02-23T12:39:00Z<p>
<p>Today I want to discuss something I&rsquo;ve being seeing around the gaming communities quite a bit lately. That discussion on what the best pay structure is and which should be implemented in upcoming MMOs. Specifically, Elder Scrolls: Online.</p>
<p>The three main type of pay structures for today&rsquo;s MMOs are Pay-to-Play (P2P), Buy-to-Play (B2P), and Free-to-Play (F2P.) I will be going over the pros and cons of each pay structure and then come to a conclusion on my opinion for the best one to be implemented.</p>
<p><strong>Pay-to-Play</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/world_of_warcraft.jpg"><img height="350" width="650" src="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/world_of_warcraft.jpg" alt="world_of_warcraft" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-196" /></a></p>
<p>This MMO pay structure is probably the most widely known due to the fact that World of Warcraft operates on this structure and makes approximately $1.8 billion in subscription costs each year ($15/month, 12 months in a year, 10M subscribers.) Most high profile MMOs start out as P2P. A general P2P model is buying the game from below average price (~$40) and subscribing to the game for a monthly fee of $15/mo.</p>
<p><strong>Pros</strong></p>
<p>1. Consistent revenue allows for consistent game maintenance.</p>
<p>2. Bugs and game issues can be addressed by devs in a timely manner, due to having funding available.</p>
<p>3. The large presence of paid GMs/Moderators keeps hackers/cheaters/gold farmers at a minimum</p>
<p>4. The dev team can consistently push out new content because they have the means to pay for the development process.</p>
<p>5. Having a subscription model roots out many players, keeping children*, and many trollers who just want to get on the game to harass people away from the game.</p>
<p><strong>Cons</strong></p>
<p>1. Appeals to probably the smallest group of MMO players, limiting the amount of players in game.</p>
<p>2. Players can feel obligated to play, or else they will feel like they are wasting money, which could cause them to unsubscribe</p>
<p>3. Losing player base due to in game issues or lack of content is a risk for new MMOs with this pay structure, causing them to quickly lose revenue.</p>
<p>Overall: +2 to the Pros, score of 7 out of 10</p>
<p><strong>Buy-to-Play</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Guild-Wars-2-Beta-Humans-Asura-Charr.jpg"><img height="336" width="598" src="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Guild-Wars-2-Beta-Humans-Asura-Charr-1024x576.jpg" alt="Guild-Wars-2-Beta-Humans-Asura-Charr" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-195" /></a></p>
<p>This MMO structure is most well known from the currently MMO game: Guild Wars 2. Basically, you buy the game which provides a source of revenue towards the game which has a shop full of microtransactions which provide vanity items, different skins for gear, and potentially exp bonuses, usually for a limited amount of time. Usually, players of these game also have to pay for new content, including smaller patch updates, not just larger expansions.</p>
<p><strong>Pros</strong></p>
<p>1. Initial revenue from buying the game allows for maintenance regularly</p>
<p>2. Bugs and game issues can be addressed fairly quickly, depending on the amount of support the game can afford</p>
<p>3. Depending on the popularity of the game, revenue might be high enough to keep a effective amount of paid GMs/Moderators</p>
<p>4. Having an initial financial commitment will keep a decent amount of children* and trollers out of the game</p>
<p>5. Having players pay for new content, can fund the development of future content</p>
<p><strong>Cons</strong></p>
<p>1. New content and support relies on how many microtransactions &amp; initial buyers the game has</p>
<p>2. A larger amount of hackers/cheaters/gold farmers/trollers will be present due to less financial commitments.</p>
<p>3. Microtransactions could cause for unfair advantages towards those who play, or making getting a good character a matter of how much you are willing to pay</p>
<p>4. Lack of content of game issues could cause many players to leave this game causing the game to become completely stagnant and unmoderated due to lack of funding</p>
<p>Overall: +1 to the Pros, score of 6 out of 10</p>
<p><strong>Free-to-Play</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/rancor-swtor.jpg"><img height="336" width="598" src="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/rancor-swtor-1024x576.jpg" alt="rancor-swtor" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-194" /></a></p>
<p>The F2P system is the most easily accessible of all the MMO pay structures. It has no upfront costs, no subscription fee, and no required microtransactions. It is most popularly used by Lord of the Rings: Online, and Star Wars: The Old Republic. MMOs that initially start out as P2P and move to F2P are seen as failed MMOs.</p>
<p><strong>Pros</strong></p>
<p>1. Able to reach out to the largest player base and have as many people as possible playing the game</p>
<p>2. Microtransactions fuel funding, which could provide minimal IT support on bugs and game issues</p>
<p>3. Lack of new content usually has no effect on the game&rsquo;s player base because with no financial commitment, they aren&rsquo;t feeling like they are wasting their money</p>
<p><strong>Cons</strong></p>
<p>1. With no financial commitment needed, hackers/cheater/gold farmers/trollers/children* will be there&nbsp;<em>en masse</em></p>
<p>2. Microtransactions usually break the game in favor of those who spend money on it</p>
<p>3. Limited content releases (if any) usually with a financial commitment, which causes the game to become stagnant</p>
<p>4. Lack of server maintenance causes latency problems in high population areas</p>
<p>5. The presence of GMs/Moderators is minimal allowing for trollers/hackers/gold farmers to run rampant</p>
<p>Overall: +2 to the Cons, score of 3 out of 10</p>
<p><strong>Conclusion</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Elder-Scrolls-Online-8.jpg"><img height="390" width="598" src="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Elder-Scrolls-Online-8-1024x668.jpg" alt="Elder-Scrolls-Online-8" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-193" /></a></p>
<p>Based on my findings I&rsquo;d have to say the worst thing ESO could go would be to go with the F2P option. In fact, it would probably alienate many players looking forward to this game, because they will be having to deal with trollers, hackers, and others that other pay structures would keep away.</p>
<p>In my opinion, the best thing for ESO to do, would be a hybrid style between P2P and B2P. I would like to see a small subscription fee of around $5-$10 a month, allowing ESO to keep a steady income coming in. This would allow them to have many of the benefits of a P2P structure, while gamers will see it as less of a financial commitment and more likely to keep with the game. The other thing I think ESO could do to enhance this pay structure would be to include a microtransaction store. However, I would limit it to mostly vanity items and limited gear skins. I would&nbsp;<em>maybe</em>&nbsp;have a EXP boost, but only either for certain skills, or for a very limited amount of time, or both. It would have to be carefully constructed in order to keep the system from being broken because players just pay enough to get their character max leveled and powerful.</p>
<p>By combining the two better pay structures you keep most of the pros of each, while only keeping the minimum of the cons. This pay structure would be a 9 out of 10 on the scale, getting rid of the large financial commitment, and still allowing for the presences of IT support, maintenance, and GMs/Moderators keeping the game fun, fair, and functional.</p>
<p>*The reason I say children in this is because usually gamers ages 11-16 have the most issues with racism, being cruel, arrogance, profanity, and many other issues that take away from the game. I&rsquo;m not saying all gamers in this age group are like that, but the reality must be faced. Without a parent looking over their shoulder, gamers in this age range feel like they can say and do things that are inappropriate without any reprocussions (their own little form of rebelling) and whether they mean it or just want to do these things to do it is irrelevant to those who have to deal with it in game. Please realize, I have no objections whatsoever to children playing MMOs are any type of game. I just do not enjoy those who cannot play maturely.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>~Jay</p>
</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.gameinformer.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=2608439" width="1" height="1">JayN7http://www.gameinformer.com/members/JayN7/default.aspxThe Holy Trinity- Are Roles Really Necessary?/blogs/members/b/jayn7_blog/archive/2013/02/20/the-holy-trinity-are-roles-really-necessary.aspx2013-02-20T14:25:00Z2013-02-20T14:25:00Z<p>
<p>First off, a thanks to Garbrac at theshadowedmare.com for the discussion on the Holy Trinity, spent some time discussing this with him. You can find his discussion on the Holy Trinity here:&nbsp;<a href="http://http//shadowedmare.com/the-holy-trinity-requirement-or-immersion-breaker/">[Holy Trinity - Requirement or Immersion Breaker?]</a><a href="http://http//shadowedmare.com/the-holy-trinity-requirement-or-immersion-breaker/"><br /></a></p>
<p><strong>What is the Holy Trinity?</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Holy-Trinity.jpg"><img height="396" width="611" src="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Holy-Trinity.jpg" alt="Holy Trinity" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-168" /></a></p>
<p>The Holy Trinity is the general classification of roles in an MMORPG. There are three primary roles that most players fall under. The Tank, The Healer, The DPS.</p>
<p>The Tank- the main damage absorber in the group. Usually has the most health, the most armor and the best ability to mitigate damage (by blocking, dodging, &nbsp;parrying attacks and other way to keep full attacks from hitting them.) Most noted by the ability to &ldquo;taunt&rdquo; enemies to attack them before anyone else.</p>
<p>The Healer- the main health replenisher in the group. Usually has the highest &ldquo;mana&rdquo; pool and the best &ldquo;mana&rdquo; regeneration. Keeps all members of the group alive when group damage comes in, and keep the tank alive while it is taking the brunt of the damage. Healers usually also fufill the role of dispellers/purifiers keeping harmful poison/diseases and the like off their group as much as possible</p>
<p>The DPS- the main damage dealer in the group. Usually has middling to low armor, average health, good &ldquo;mana&rdquo; pools and &ldquo;mana&rdquo; regeneration if applicable but is never incredibly high in health, armor, or healing capabilities. The primary function of a DPS is to deal out as much damage to enemies as they possibly can. DPS are the players who actually kill things, but usually can&rsquo;t do it by themselves. The can also often serve as crowd control and other utility players.</p>
<p><strong>Are Roles Necessary?</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Guardians.jpg"><img height="310" width="598" src="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Guardians-1024x531.jpg" alt="Guardians" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-78" /></a></p>
<p>Up until Guild Wars 2, most (if not all) big name MMORPGs had some form of the Holy Trinity implemented. World of Warcraft probably made it the most famous, requiring a Tank, Healer, and some DPS for almost any kind of grouped event. But the question is, are these roles necessary? In my opinion, yes. They provide a basic strategy set up for any group encounter so face. When the game assigns you to a role, it puts some responsibility towards other players on your shoulders. If a tank doesn&rsquo;t do their job, the DPS die because they were getting attacked. If the healer doesn&rsquo;t do their job, the tank dies because it doesn&rsquo;t have an infinite health pool. If the DPS don&rsquo;t do their job, the tank dies because the healer ran out of mana and the boss kept pummeling them.</p>
<p>If you don&rsquo;t have this mutual responsibility, the grouped events become much more individualistic. Am I doing my damage? Am I healing myself? Am I mitigating as much &nbsp;damage coming to me as I can? In Guild Wars 2, because there is no role structure it turns into a zerg rush where everyone attacks, attacks, attacks. They are responsible for only themselves and potentially will not help others in the group. This completely destroys any real possibility of consistent group strategy and, in my opinion, severely takes away from the social aspect of the game. I mean if all you are doing with your friends is attacking the same stuff along side them and nothing else, what do you discuss in game? What you had for dinner? When you are in a roled group, you talk more about each encounter. A DPS tells a tank they are about to use their most powerful attacks, a healer is getting low on mana so a tank uses its best damage mitigation abilities, a tank is losing aggro on the boss and lets a DPS know to back off for a bit until the tank has it under control again. All this is being missed with no roles.</p>
<p>Without realizing it, so much of the game revolves around the Holy Trinity. How you play your character, who you group up with, how you interact with the game and other players and so much more. The Holy Trinity is an integral part of the MMORPG and while it doesn&rsquo;t necessarily has to be as simple as just Tanks, Healers, and DPS, some form of the Trinity should be implemented to make an MMO as strategically enjoyable as possible.</p>
<p><strong>Does the Trinity break a player&rsquo;s immersion into the game?</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/elder-scrolls-online-combat1.0_cinema_640.0.jpg"><img height="360" width="640" src="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/elder-scrolls-online-combat1.0_cinema_640.0.jpg" alt="elder-scrolls-online-combat1.0_cinema_640.0" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-169" /></a></p>
<p>In a very short answer, no. At least it shouldn&rsquo;t to those who have thought about it enough. I posted a comment on The Shadowed Mare about this. Here&rsquo;s the excerpt:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><em>&ldquo;For those people believing that having a tank person break immersion, they probably aren&rsquo;t thinking about it very thoroughly in my opinion. Think of famous medieval base movies with battle scenes (I&rsquo;ll use LotR as my example.) How many times did Aragorn jump infront of an enemy to keep the hobbits from being attacked? He would yell and taunt and swing a torch in their face to get their attention back on him. He kept others alive by having enemies attack him. The same with Baromir &amp; Gimli. They were the primary &ldquo;tanks&rdquo; of the group. Legolas was a ranged attacker and the hobbits were primarily melee DPS. The only one who didn&rsquo;t exactly fit into a role was Gandalf and how do you make Gandalf fit into just one role?</em></p>
<p><em>My point is that even in movies there are semblances of the holy trinity, especially the tank. To me the immersion requires a set of roles for each person, otherwise the other people mean nothing to each other in a group. There is no responsibility and while there is no true blame it can very easily result to that because someone wasn&rsquo;t pulling their own weight. It becomes the same issues of blame Trinity groups have just in a less organized more &ldquo;zergy&rdquo; manner.&rdquo;</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>This pretty much sums up my opinion on whether or not roles and the Trinity break immersion. It will only break immersion if you let it. If you&rsquo;re trying to be a do-it-all superhero person then yes it might just break immersion. The easiest way to fix that? Play solo. Then you don&rsquo;t have to worry about roles or the Trinity at all, it&rsquo;ll just be you and your superhero skills. But if you want to be part of a group, just like in real life, you need to know your job in that group and how you fit into a cohesive whole.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>This concludes my thought on the Holy Trinity and how I feel it is&nbsp;<strong>essen</strong><em><strong>ti</strong><strong>a</strong><strong>l</strong></em><em></em>&nbsp;<strong></strong>to making an effective and cooperative MMORPG. Here&rsquo;s to hoping that ESO implements this system in a complex and engaging way that will keep players continuously coming back for more.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Until next time,</p>
<p>~Jay</p>
</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.gameinformer.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=2598180" width="1" height="1">JayN7http://www.gameinformer.com/members/JayN7/default.aspxVideo Games vs. Other Media: A Blogger’s Rant/blogs/members/b/jayn7_blog/archive/2013/02/19/video-games-vs-other-media-a-blogger-s-rant.aspx2013-02-19T12:36:00Z2013-02-19T12:36:00Z<p>
<p>This blog is a bit more personal and discusses my personal reasons behind the rift caused between gamers and non-gamers. I have a lot of personal experience with this and it can sometimes get frustrating when other people, especially non-gamers, don&rsquo;t realize how much games can mean to me, or another person.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Video Games are a true form of entertainment, not just a source of mindless time-passing (Its Ranting Time)</strong></p>
<p>Would you say that any James Patterson novel is mindless entertainment? The Harry Potter Series? Any NY Times Best Seller? Most people would say no, because they are books. Books are stories that capture your imagination, they provide insight into a characters emotional and physical struggles and their relationships with those that mean something to them. What about The Breakfast Club? The Star Wars original trilogy? Lincoln? Again, most people would say no, because they are movies. Movies have some degree of realism in them, you (for the most part) see an actual actor/actresses&rsquo; face, you see their emotion, hear it in their voice, see the look in their eyes. You know that they are going through some inner struggle even if you can&rsquo;t know exactly what they are thinking. You know what other characters actually mean something to them and all of a sudden you&rsquo;re caught up in their emotional struggle and are rooting for everything to work out in the end. When it doesn&rsquo;t, you cry like a baby, when it does tears of joy run down your face.</p>
<p>But what would people say about video games? Is Mass Effect worth the same emotional accolades that movies and book receive? What about Assassin&rsquo;s Creed? God of War is almost literally a recreation of the story of Hercules, but it only get recognized outside the gaming community as an extremely violent video game. Well, the story of Hercules was extremely violent, but no one seems to pick at that fact. Change his name to Kratos and he&rsquo;s a violent sociopath that doesn&rsquo;t need to be in our hands.</p>
<p><a href="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/6404.ME-vs-Fox-News.jpg-610x0.jpg"><img height="400" width="500" src="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/6404.ME-vs-Fox-News.jpg-610x0.jpg" alt="6404.ME vs Fox News.jpg-610x0" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-103" /></a></p>
<p>I remember the story Fox News published on the original Mass Effect and the brief (less than 5 seconds) of blue alien butt that was in an optional cinematic of a &ldquo;sex scene.&rdquo; The &ldquo;journalists&rdquo; jumped all over it and the fact that something like that would be available to their children. Are rated R movies with full frontal nudity available to your children, no, unless you as a parent choose to expose them to it. The same thing goes for rated M games. If you do not want your children exposed to it, don&rsquo;t buy the game. They cannot buy it unless they are 17 or older, just like a rated R movie. They brought in a gaming expert and a self-help expert who was researching the link between violence and video games. The gaming expert explicitly stated the that the uproar was over a very brief, completely optional cinematic that wasn&rsquo;t actually controlled by the gamer, and that it could just be skipped over by pressing a button even if you managed to develop your story in that particular way. The gaming expert however, was hardly able to get a word in edge wise between the host acting as a mediator (who was very biased against the game) and the childhood development expert. The self-help expert had no experience with the game whatsoever, nor did she know what was actually going on with the same. All she focused on was nudity in a video game. And that was enough for her. If it had been a book or movie, that news story would&rsquo;ve never been published, but because it was a video game, it was a huge deal. Why?</p>
<p>Because video games are the new form of media. Just like movies once were. They are still mostly unfamiliar to the current generation (Ages 30-50) who are the main creditable sources in the world, at least currently. They did not grow up playing video games like most people in the upcoming generation did. It is unfamiliar to them and they have no real motivation to research it or immerse themselves in it. So they get hand fed this agenda and its controversy, knowing that its mainly just meant to get viewers and they pitch it as their own. They&rsquo;ll recall the few times they did actually play video games and name-drop famous titles like Super Mario, Donkey Kong, and Zelda. But they have never really experienced a game in its entirety and felt the same feeling you get from a good book or movie and that is sad because they are missing out on so much.</p>
<p>As a note: the self-help author later retracted her statements against Mass Effect, however Fox News did not. And the damage was already done. Can&rsquo;t really blame someone for jumping for an interview with a major news network though.</p>
<p>To me, I have just as much attachment to the storyline is my favorite video games as I do to the storyline in my favorite movies and my favorite books. I spend hours watching my favorite movies, rereading my favorite books and playing my favorite games. What is the difference? Nothing, in my opinion. But to many, video games are still see as children&rsquo;s games and not a true form of entertainment media. Eventually, the gaming industry will be accepted as a norm in the entertainment industry, but it probably won&rsquo;t completely happen until they next generation becomes the dominant generation in the work force and around the world. Until then, gamer will have to be patient and face much scrutiny for their hobbies from those who haven&rsquo;t experienced what they have. For those gamers like me, just explain it to them this way; its like you haven&rsquo;t seen the same movies I have or read the same books I have, so obviously we are going to differ on our opinions. If they can&rsquo;t accept that then they are too narrow minded to be having such a conversation with.</p>
<p><a href="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/gamerrage.jpg"><img height="250" width="375" src="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/gamerrage.jpg" alt="gamerrage" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-105" /></a></p>
<p>Thanks for listening to my rant,</p>
<p>~Jay</p>
<div class="clear"></div>
</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.gameinformer.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=2594859" width="1" height="1">JayN7http://www.gameinformer.com/members/JayN7/default.aspxElder Scrolls Online: Confirmed Features/blogs/members/b/jayn7_blog/archive/2013/02/18/elder-scrolls-online-confirmed-features.aspx2013-02-18T13:37:00Z2013-02-18T13:37:00Z<p>
<p>Jay here with week #2 of Elder Scrolls Online articles. Today I would like to put out a bunch of confirmed features in ESO and a few thoughts on them. There is a lot of information coming out, so I will do my best to organize it for those who don&rsquo;t want to be overwhelmed.</p>
<p><a href="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/The-Elder-Scrolls-Online-PC-Specs-E3.jpg"><img height="300" width="570" src="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/The-Elder-Scrolls-Online-PC-Specs-E3.jpg" alt="The-Elder-Scrolls-Online-PC-Specs-E3" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-94" /></a></p>
<p>First Off, the Level Cap has been be announced at 50.</p>
<p>-5 Classes have been announced for the game so far, with at least one more coming.</p>
<p>1. Dragon Knight- offensive warrior</p>
<p>2. Templar- defensive warrior</p>
<p>3. Sorcerer- offensive caster</p>
<p>4. Warden- defensive caster</p>
<p>5. Nightblade- offensive rogue/assassin style</p>
<p>I would assume that there will be probably 8 classes. Another more defensive rogue/assassin and an offensive and defensive ranged (non-magic) player. However, due to the limited roles those players could play, they might be solely offensive in nature and less able to protect other players which would probably keep it around 6 classes.</p>
<p><a href="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/The-Elder-Scrolls-Online-0111.jpg"><img height="382" width="563" src="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/The-Elder-Scrolls-Online-0111.jpg" alt="The-Elder-Scrolls-Online-0111" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-93" /></a></p>
<p>-Fast Traveling has been confirmed in game. However, fast traveling will only by available to discovered way-points (I think the in game term is way-shrines) instead of any place you have discovered. I assume this will help with phasing issues and group play. In Cyrodiil, fast traveling will be available to any faction controlled keep, but only those that are not under attack.</p>
<p>-Time Travel has been confirmed in game (presumably through Elder Scrolls) allowing players to participate in battles from the past. I see there being a distinct possibility to be able to participate in a dwemer battle, seeing as ESO is so close to the disappearance of the race.</p>
<p>-Wieldable weapon combinations include: Two-Handed Weapons, One-Handed Weapon &amp; Shield, Dual Wielding One-Handed Weapons, Bow, Fire Staff, Ice Staff, Lightning Staff, One-Handed Weapon &amp; Rune.</p>
<p>-There will be 8 ranks of weapon proficiency. The more you use a type of weapon, the higher your proficiency and the more effective you are with that weapon.</p>
<p>-Mundus Stones (Guardian Stones) will be in game. While it is not confirmed what these stones will do, they could allow you to level skills more quickly, or allow you to have a special ability while it is active.</p>
<p>-Pets have been confirmed in game, and it has also been confirmed that they can be used in combat. Hopefully they will have better AI than Skyrim&rsquo;s dogs.</p>
<p><a href="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Elder-Scrolls-Online-Argonians.jpg"><img height="336" width="598" src="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Elder-Scrolls-Online-Argonians-1024x576.jpg" alt="Elder-Scrolls-Online-Argonians" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-91" /></a></p>
<p>-There will be a 5-button HotBar, similar to Diablo style, that players can choose to have as their abilities. There will be more than 5 abilities to choose from, but you can only have 5 abilities on your HotBar at a time.</p>
<p>-Combat in Cyrodiil will revolve around capturing keeps and their surrounding builds and will involve both NPC and Player fighting.</p>
<p>-Siege Weapons have been confirmed in game. They will be craftable and customizable.</p>
<p>-Crafting Materials can be obtained four ways; merchants, looting kills, stealing, and farming them around the wilderness.</p>
<p>-Criminality &amp; Morality will be implemented in a post-launch patch.</p>
<p>-Emotes will be in game. So you can dance with all your friends, I&rsquo;m guessing.</p>
<p><a href="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/The-Elder-Scrolls-Online-02.jpg"><img height="290" width="563" src="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/The-Elder-Scrolls-Online-02.jpg" alt="The-Elder-Scrolls-Online-02" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-92" /></a></p>
<p>-The Thieves&rsquo; Guild, Mages&rsquo; Guild, Fighters&rsquo; Guild, Companions, and Dark Brotherhood will be in game.</p>
<p>-Daedric Ruins will be in game and will be explorable.</p>
<p>-Daedric artifacts will be in game, and will be tied to the Fighters&rsquo; Guild questline.</p>
<p>-Public Dungeons will be instanced, players you have been through a dungeon previously and cleared it will find new areas open to them.</p>
<p>-Player Guilds will exist in game. Keeps in Cyrodiil can be captured and controlled by guilds.</p>
<p>-Guilds will be faction specific. It wouldn&rsquo;t make sense if a keep captured by an Ebonheart Pact Guild welcomed an Altmer guild member with open arms.</p>
<p>-Crouching will cost Stamina. I know, a huge disappointment to myself as well. But it is something I can see as necessary. If someone has a max skill level in Sneak, they could just sneak around everything and never be detected while doing quest objectives or avoiding enemy players/NPCs. It would be broken if every player could do that and not have a time limit on it.</p>
<p>-Players will be rewarded for successful attacks, blocks, and dodges with the Finesse System in game, providing them with &ldquo;assist-like&rdquo; experience.</p>
<p>-Players grouped together with receive Synergy, buffing each other based on their skills. An example that has been released is Conduit: a non-lethal lightning buff with turn into an AoE Lightning attack.</p>
<p>This is a pretty good list of the features that have been confirmed in game. There are more, and I will continue to bring you more information on the game.</p>
<p>Things I look forward to discussing: The Synergy System, 1st Person vs. 3rd Person views, Enemy AI, Mounts &amp; Other Player Mobility, Faction Balancing &amp; Interaction and much more. Please feel free to comment on the game, or what you would like to talk about and I will discuss it with you.</p>
<p>~Jay</p>
</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.gameinformer.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=2592256" width="1" height="1">JayN7http://www.gameinformer.com/members/JayN7/default.aspxWorld of Warcraft: Getting Ready for Patch 5.2/blogs/members/b/jayn7_blog/archive/2013/02/17/world-of-warcraft-getting-ready-for-patch-5-2.aspx2013-02-17T12:04:00Z2013-02-17T12:04:00Z<p>
<p>Jay here, back again this time to talk about the new patch for my current MMO, World of Warcraft. To be honest, 5.2 is really the only thing keeping me from doing away with my subscription for a while and just devoting myself completely to console games. And while I&#39;m not the most committed of WoW players at the moment there are definitely some things in 5.2 that have peaked my interest.</p>
<p><a href="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/wow-patch-5-2-weltboss-oondasta.jpg"><img height="298" width="530" src="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/wow-patch-5-2-weltboss-oondasta.jpg" alt="wow-patch-5-2-weltboss-oondasta" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-62" /></a></p>
<p>New Daily Quest Hub: Isle of the Thunder King</p>
<p>While I am not excited about doing quests over and over and over again for days on end, I am looking forward to new storyline content. I enjoyed the Operation Shieldwall/Domination Point storyline quests added to the daily quest grind. I was really excited about the new storyline quests and it was something I actually worked to get to. To add to that, they are bringing back the progressive unlocks based on server participation from Burning Crusade and the Isle of Quel&#39;Danas. Another motivation because I want to be one of those people who made a significant contribution to unlocking the island, not just coming in once everything is already done and reaping my non-earned rewards.</p>
<p><a href="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/WoW_Patch-52_Lore_ThunderKing.jpg"><img height="312" width="667" src="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/WoW_Patch-52_Lore_ThunderKing.jpg" alt="WoW_Patch-52_Lore_ThunderKing" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-63" /></a></p>
<p>New Raid: Throne of Thunder</p>
<p>As a PvE addict, I cannot wait to get started in this raid, even if at first its just LFR. With 12 new bosses to mess with and plenty of new loot to improve my characters, this raid is definitely enough motivation for me to start playing more. I just hope the boss fights are enjoyable and challenging, and not completely broken &nbsp;in LFR (at least not immediately.) With this new gear it should also help some of the PvE Progression Guilds who are behind on content be able to catch up and work on new instances each week. Really looking forward to getting some good progression done with my guild.</p>
<p><a href="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/SunsongRanch.jpg"><img height="336" width="598" src="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/SunsongRanch-1024x576.jpg" alt="SunsongRanch" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-64" /></a></p>
<p>Sunsong Ranch</p>
<p>This place was the bane of my Mote of Harmony existence. I hated planting, I hated having 16 combat interactions per planting day, and I hated hated hated the stupid Wild Crop mini-game. Now I&#39;m finding out that all of this is being addressed and you can buy the farm as a leave me the hell alone, you can&#39;t come in my phase area? That&#39;s awesome. Definitely know where I&#39;ll be going to turn my chat off and get away from trolls and idiots.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Well that about sums up what I personally am excited about for MoP Patch 5.2. And I know it doesn&#39;t seem like much but its pretty much all the new content and new areas. I&#39;m not a huge fan of world bosses due to issues with that many players in groups. It just not pleasant in today&#39;s WoW. What are you excited about in 5.2? Let me know in the comments.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Tomorrow is the weekly TESO update, be there.</p>
<p>~Jay</p>
</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.gameinformer.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=2589744" width="1" height="1">JayN7http://www.gameinformer.com/members/JayN7/default.aspxUpcoming Titles for the Spring Season/blogs/members/b/jayn7_blog/archive/2013/02/16/upcoming-titles-for-the-spring-season.aspx2013-02-16T11:00:00Z2013-02-16T11:00:00Z<p>
<p>As I kind of hinted to in my previous post, I have a few games this season that I am excited about and looking forward to getting come release day. Each season I will be updating my backlog, with the goal of clearing it out completely over the summer into to get ready for the Fall and Winter, when most of the best games come out. In this article I&#39;ll be going over the 4 games of the Spring season I want, and why, along with a few other details that are affecting my decision.</p>
<p>And the first one out of the gate is:</p>
<p><a href="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Tomb-raider.jpg"><img height="196" width="300" src="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Tomb-raider-300x196.jpg" alt="Tomb-raider" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-36" /></a></p>
<p>1. Tomb Raider- XBOX 360- Release Date: 3/5/2013</p>
<p>I have been captured by this game ever since I saw it previewed on Game Informer. I have always been a fan of Tomb Raider, although I am even more excited about this reboot to a younger Lara, with harder decisions, less grit and toughness, and more vulnerability. I am someone who really harps on character development and the way Crystal Dynamics is remaking Lara has me looking forward to developing her into the Tomb Raider we all know and love. This is my most anticipated game of the season and I am giving it a preview score of 9.1 out of 10.</p>
<p><a href="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/godofwara610.jpg"><img height="164" width="300" src="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/godofwara610-300x164.jpg" alt="godofwara610" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-37" /></a></p>
<p>2. God of War: Ascension Collector&#39;s Edition- PS3- Release Date: 3/12/2013</p>
<p>It is extremely tough to say no to any God of War game. Its even tougher to say no to a collector&#39;s edition just $20 more and add to my video game collectibles. This franchise has consistently produced quality games and I suspect this game with be no different. In fact, I am very interested in this game because it goes more into detail of the beginning of Kratos&#39; story. I am all for understanding more about iconic players and their backstory. This is my third most anticipated game of the season, however my preview score is 9.6 out of 10 due to the franchise name and the quality of games they produce.</p>
<p><a href="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/bioshock_infinite_2.jpg"><img height="168" width="300" src="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/bioshock_infinite_2-300x168.jpg" alt="bioshock_infinite_2" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-38" /></a></p>
<p>3. Bioshock Infinite Prenium Edition- XBOX 360- Release Date: 3/26/2013</p>
<p>What is better than Bioshock? Maybe a Bioshock in the airy skies of Columbia? That&#39;s what it seems like to me. Another quality franchise but this one has branched out from its previous titles. I am particularly interested in the time travel concept and how it will effect the game, really looking forward to that part. With a much more interactive &quot;little sister&quot; in Elizabeth I feel like the character and story are being much more developed than before. This seems to be a trend for video games and one I am extremely happy out. Seem to me that gamers do care about the story, at least enough of them that developers are really focusing on the narrative of a game nowadays. This is my second most anticipated game of the season with a preview score of 9.1 to match Tomb Raider.</p>
<p><a href="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/injusticegau.jpg"><img height="96" width="300" src="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/injusticegau-300x96.jpg" alt="injusticegau" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-39" /></a></p>
<p>4. In justice: Gods Among Us- XBOX360- Release Date: 4/16/2013</p>
<p>It has been a long time since I have been wanting to play a Fighting game. Normally they just aren&#39;t my style. But I do like to branch out and while I branch out, why not experience new storylines from some of my favorite DC heroes and villans? Sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me. The fact that this was developed by NetherRealm Studios really helps give this game credit (for those who don&#39;t know NetherRealm created Mortal Kombat) along with the fact that there will be to true distinction as to who is good and who is evil. Sounds very intriguing. This is my fourth most anticipated game of the season and I give it a preview score of 8.6, I hope it out does my anticipation.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Those are my upcoming titles, with a price tag at $280 over the next two months, it looks like I will have plenty of video games to play and plenty to do and write about over the summer when the video game industry goes outside and gets a tan.</p>
<p>Please feel free to leave comments about your upcoming titles, I would love to hear about them. Maybe you can even convince me to add to my own.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>~Jay</p>
</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.gameinformer.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=2587965" width="1" height="1">JayN7http://www.gameinformer.com/members/JayN7/default.aspxVideo Game Backlog/blogs/members/b/jayn7_blog/archive/2013/02/15/video-game-backlog.aspx2013-02-15T11:31:00Z2013-02-15T11:31:00Z<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Ever had too many games to play and not enough time to play them all? And on top of that you have more titles coming out soon you can wait to sink your teeth into? That is about where I am at right now. Mainly due to an intense WoW fixation and being low on funds. However, some time is opening up and I am working on tackling my list and getting it down to a more manageable size for the new games coming out that I am looking forward to.</p>
<p>Without any further ado, here&rsquo;s my backlog:</p>
<p><img src="http://www.gameinformer.com/resized-image.ashx/__size/610x600/__key/CommunityServer-Components-UserFiles/00-01-40-86-24-Attached+Files/4263.skyrim_2D00_dlc.jpg" width="235" height="150" style="border:0px;" alt="" /></p>
<p>1. Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Dragonborn DLC</p>
<p>I have been on a huge Elder Scrolls kick lately. I have already invested another 60+ hours into the game over the past week or so and I am finally reaching the point where I want to get some of the DLC for Skyrim. I am looking forward to getting away from this cold and desolate area and getting a tan.</p>
<p><a href="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/ac3big.jpeg"><img height="168" width="300" src="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/ac3big-300x168.jpeg" alt="ac3big" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-26" /></a></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>2. Assassin&rsquo;s Creed III</p>
<p>I know, I know, shame on me. I haven&rsquo;t even touched this game although I already have it in my video game library. The main reason being that I tried playing AC: Revelations without really wanting to play it and ended up just pushing it off to the wayside mainly due to the terrible tower defense game in it. I mean it was REALLY terrible. Eventually though, I will get back on the AC saddle and catch up on this series and see what is going on with Connor &amp; Desmond.</p>
<p><a href="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/ME3-Omega-Aria-Shepard-Nyreen.jpg"><img height="150" width="300" src="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/ME3-Omega-Aria-Shepard-Nyreen-300x150.jpg" alt="ME3-Omega-Aria-Shepard-Nyreen" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-27" /></a></p>
<p><a href="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/ME3-Omega-Aria-Shepard-Nyreen.jpg"></a>3. Mass Effect 3- Leviathan &amp; Omega DLC</p>
<p>With as much of a fan as I am of the Mass Effect series, I could play through 3&prime;s original storyline about 7 more times without tiring of it. But I do enjoy new content and I am definitely interested in working with Aria in taking back Omega. I am hoping for new areas to be accessed on the asteroid, along with visiting some key spots from Mass Effect 2.</p>
<p><a href="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/borderlands-2-14709-1920x1080-e1355459243770.jpg"><img height="183" width="300" src="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/borderlands-2-14709-1920x1080-e1355459243770-300x183.jpg" alt="borderlands-2-14709-1920x1080-e1355459243770" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-28" /></a></p>
<p>4. Borderlands 2</p>
<p>Another game that is almost a crime for me to not have played yet. I played the original Borderlands, including the Zombie Island of Dr. Ned and most of Mad Moxxi&rsquo;s Underdome Riot. I was working on a second playthrough to get ready for General Knoxx &amp; Claptrap when other games called me away. I am hoping to get this game, playthrough the original storyline, and working my way through the rest of the DLC as it comes out. That way I&rsquo;m not sitting with a huge game plus 4 nice and big DLCs to add to my backlog. Although I have to admit I&rsquo;m going to miss Mordecai and Bloodwing from the original Borderlands.</p>
<p><a href="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/darksiders2wallpaper1.jpg"><img height="187" width="300" src="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/darksiders2wallpaper1-300x187.jpg" alt="darksiders2wallpaper1" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-29" /></a></p>
<p>5. Darksiders &amp; Darksiders 2</p>
<p>When Darksiders came out, I was interested, but not enough to actually get the game. When Darksiders 2 came out I was extremely interested in it but hesitated to get it because of having not played the original. Now, I am committed to both and will be getting them as soon as I get the money. I am looking forward to playing as both War &amp; Death and really messing some stuff up.</p>
<p><a href="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/transformers-fall-of-cybertron-metroplex-wallpaper.jpg"><img height="187" width="300" src="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/transformers-fall-of-cybertron-metroplex-wallpaper-300x187.jpg" alt="transformers-fall-of-cybertron-metroplex-wallpaper" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-30" /></a></p>
<p>6. Transformers: War for Cybertron &amp; Fall of Cybertron</p>
<p>One of the biggest reasons I did not pick up these games is because I made the huge mistake of buying a movie recreation game before these came out, which made me very wary of any Transformers game. However, High Moon made awesome Transformers game that I have regretfully kept putting off. Until now. I plan on sinking some serious game time into these two games and experiencing what a real Transformers game should be. Of course I will do it in order though as to not ruin anything.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Well that concludes my video game backlog and now you can see how much serious gaming I need to get done before titles like Tomb Raider, God of War: Ascension, and Bioshock Inifinite come out. Wish me luck and don&rsquo;t forget to leave comments!</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>~Jay</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.gameinformer.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=2585210" width="1" height="1">JayN7http://www.gameinformer.com/members/JayN7/default.aspxDLC & Release Day Patches/blogs/members/b/jayn7_blog/archive/2013/02/15/dlc-amp-release-day-patches.aspx2013-02-15T11:29:00Z2013-02-15T11:29:00Z<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Anyone else remember the days when you bought a game, and that was the final product for that game? Any bugs, glitches, or any other issues were stuck there for as long as you decided to play that game since your console didn&rsquo;t have internet access and there was no way to patch it, wasn&rsquo;t it awesome?</p>
<p><strong>?!?!?!?</strong></p>
<p>Some of you are probably thinking, &ldquo;What are you talking about? Why wouldn&rsquo;t I want the developers to be able to come back to a game and fix any bugs or glitches they missed during development?&rdquo; While this is very true and I agree with you wholeheartedly about it, I still long for the days when DEV teams and testers would not release games unless the KNEW they had found every single possible bug and glitch they could possibly find. Nowadays, developers can get a product ready to ship &amp; sell and still have testers working to find more bugs and glitches, who cares? They can just toss in a release day patch to fix any issues they found while they were pushing for the product to hit the shelves.</p>
<p>The problem I have with this is two-fold. One, with the implementation of release day patches testers and DEV teams aren&rsquo;t releasing games up to a certain quality standard. I know I&rsquo;ve have experienced it with major AAA titles such as Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Mass Effect 3, Halo 4, Assassin&rsquo;s Creed: Revelations, Assassin&rsquo;s Creed III, and well I could go on. Basically most major titles in recent years have been released NEEDING a release day patch. Meaning that the publishing company probably pushed the studio to release the game ealier than it should have been to push for profit, profit, and more profit. Which is understandable I guess, I mean this is a business industry, the goal is to make money. However, why does it have to be done at the customer&rsquo;s expense? Why not find a different business model that allows for more people finding more bugs and glitches in less time? I suppose I just wish that a business model would have a little bit more quality over quantity.</p>
<p>My second issue is this; what if, for whatever reason you might have, you don&rsquo;t have internet access to get the release day patch? Then you&rsquo;re stuck with some half tested game full of bugs and glitches that can be frustrating enough for you to throw away your controller in a bad case of Gamer Rage. And nobody wants that. Everyone hates Gamer Rage. I am of the opinion that unless they can guarantee that everyone will have access to a release day patch for a game then you shouldn&rsquo;t do a release patch for the game. I am a bit more understanding about a patch coming later down the road fixing issues that gamers came across because I know that it is impossible to catch every issue in a game during development. That does not excuse releasing a game without fixing as many as you can.</p>
<p><a href="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/mtv-dragonborn-1.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-22 aligncenter" alt="mtv-dragonborn-1" src="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/mtv-dragonborn-1-300x181.jpg" width="300" height="181" /></a></p>
<p>Downloadable Content on the other hand, I am all in favor for. I like the idea of adding more to a game after the final product is released. It gives me more incentive to run multiple playthroughs or go back to a game after I&rsquo;ve had it on the shelf for a while. I don&rsquo;t mind having to pay for more content either, as long as the amount of content is worth the amount I paid. I&rsquo;m not going to pay $10 for DLC that adds an extra hour or two of game time. For $10 I would expect around 4-5 hours of gametime with possibly a lot more depending on the game.</p>
<p>Downloadable Content is also a great way to bridge the gap between games in a series (see Mass Effect) and bring new areas or zones in a game, or even bring back old areas from previous games (see The Elder Scrolls.) For those times when free DLC is offered I am usually right on top of it. I even enjoy the (rather expensive) map packs from popular FPSes like CoD and Halo. It gets a little bit boring to just be going to the same spots on the same maps using the same tactics for the entire length of the time you play it.</p>
<p><a href="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/tyrannyofgeorgewashington.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-23 aligncenter" alt="tyrannyofgeorgewashington" src="http://focusonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/tyrannyofgeorgewashington-300x168.jpg" width="300" height="168" /></a></p>
<p>My favorite kind of DLCs are the ones that introduce a new storyline into a game. DLC packs such a Overlord for Mass Effect 2, The Tyranny of George Washington for Assassin&rsquo;s Creed III, and Darkspawn Chronicles for Dragon Age: Origins have all added brand new storylines to already great games. In fact, all the DLC for the original Borderlands added new storylines and areas and quests to the original story (although Borderlands didn&rsquo;t have much of a storyline to begin with.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>In summation, I believe that DLC content is a good idea that studios should still be producing, as long as it is quality content well worth the money. However, publishing companies need to lay off the early release push and allow studios to release quality content that doesn&rsquo;t need a release day patch.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Until next time, please leave comments, like the posts and tell your friends about Focus One Games.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>~Jay</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.gameinformer.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=2585207" width="1" height="1">JayN7http://www.gameinformer.com/members/JayN7/default.aspxThe Elder Scrolls Online: Top 5 Reasons to be Excited about this game/blogs/members/b/jayn7_blog/archive/2013/02/12/the-elder-scrolls-online-top-5-reasons-to-be-excited-about-this-game.aspx2013-02-12T12:50:00Z2013-02-12T12:50:00Z<p>
<p><a href="http://focusonegames.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/eso_wk1_breton_rogue.jpg"><img src="http://focusonegames.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/eso_wk1_breton_rogue.jpg?w=487" alt="Image" id="i-30" class="size-full wp-image" /></a></p>
<p>Today I will be starting my weekly Monday rundown on The Elder Scrolls Online. I plan on posting once a week about this upcoming game and discussing potential issues and setbacks and how I hope that they will be addressed in this massive undertaking of a huge universe with over 15 years of gaming lore to draw from. TES games have been a staple among the video game world, really hitting their stride (in my opinion) as a premier&nbsp;<strong>single-player</strong>&nbsp;RPG with The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. One of the key things about this series it that it has always been single-player. The show was always about you and you did pretty much whatever you wanted. You could follow the main storyline, explore all over looking for caves and other cool places with lots of loot, you could go on a killing rampage in a town just because you felt like it, you could join a number of guilds or work on a number of professions to help level your character.</p>
<p>One of the things I always enjoyed was the fact that quest completion had nothing to do with gaining experience. What mattered was what you did while you were out there in the world. Did you kill every living thing that moved? Then you probably leveled up your combat skills. Did you sneak past everyone and unlock that master chest to get the loot you needed? Then you probably leveled up your subtlety skills. Did you cast fire down upon your enemies then dance on their burning corpses after levitating them into highly assuming positions? The you probably leveled up your magic skills. There is no, &ldquo;oh hey, you walked the 10 yards I wasn&rsquo;t willing to in order to get my long lost treasure, have a free level.&rdquo; Basically the game has been such a unique experience with each person&rsquo;s storylines and characters being so unique to that player that its hard to imagine a Tamriel with multiple players in it.</p>
<p>So why is there going to be an Elder Scrolls Online? Why is another hugely popular game adding multiplayer features? I do not want all my games to be online. I do not want to have to deal with 12 year old kids cussing out air over their mic just so I can go achievement hunting and experience a game in its entirety. I, initially, did not want my Elder Scrolls to be&nbsp;<strong>Online.</strong>&nbsp;But now, I am all for it. I am so excited about it that I&rsquo;m chomping at the bit for a BETA invite. Why the sudden change of heart? Because new and pertinent information has presented itself to me that I believe will change my MMO gaming experience for the better.</p>
<p><strong>Reason #1: Staying True to Their Roots</strong></p>
<p>TESO is not trying to remake a TES game. They are trying to implement a TES game into an MMO format. Which means the game is designed to be a true first-person MMO with appearances extremely comparable to Skyrim. It also means that controls are going to be designed like Skyrim and other TES titles. The relatively simple WASD movement coupled with mouse movement for looking around should be seamless for most MMO players. However, instead of button mashing, the attack action with be Left Mouse Button -&gt; One Hand attacks, Right Mouse Button -&gt; Other Hand attacks. This is tried and true TES style but will be very different from most classical MMOs that focus on cooldowns for specific abilities and building rotations based on those cooldowns.</p>
<p>With a TES game comes freedom. Freedom to do what you want, explore what you want whenever you want. The same will hold true for TESO. The concept of questing in TESO is based on exploration and coming across people or situations or areas that you can gain experience from through action. If you want to go into a town and talk to people and see if they have quests you can do that, if you see a group of people getting attacked by some creature you can go help, if you want to go into that bandit camp and clear them out while searching for loot by all means fewer bandits is always a good thing.</p>
<p>Some of the TES staples will be going along for the ride as well on TESO. Features such as; Stealth abilities for all classes (You choose how stealthy you want your character to be), No armor or weapon restrictions (any player can wear any armor and wield any weapon), Kill cams (for those awesome archery shots or when you completely desecrate someone with a spell), and of course Books, books and more books (all collectable and all readable)</p>
<p><strong>Reason #2: Simplified UI</strong></p>
<p>As a WoW player I am a bit of an add-on addict. I have Sunn Viewport Art, Bartender 4, Bagnon, Titan Panel, all effecting my UI. I have to admit, it is more cluttered that I really like. Sometime I wish I could see more of the screen beyond my buttons. I wish I didn&rsquo;t have to move my buttons around so they don&rsquo;t get in the way of any special buttons that might come up during an encounter (Hello, Blizzard) and keep me from doing my optimized rotation because I am having to work around cast bars and special buttons in between my normal buttons.</p>
<p>In TESO, none of this will be an issue. You have 3 bars to observe and maintain. Your Magicka, Stamina, and Health bars, sound familiar? Sure it does. Its what you&rsquo;re used to with TES games. No stacks upon stacks of buttons to click, no having to watch for Cooldowns to pop off a spell at just the right time to maximize DPS. You actually get to watch the action in game and not have to worry about if you&rsquo;re rotation will get messed up because of that.</p>
<p>Also, coming back from TES game is the compass. I personally like minimaps as well but I know that the compass has much more utility for quest completion and exploration. I am very happy with my Skyrim UI coming back for TESO.</p>
<p><strong>Reason #3: Massive Open World PvP with More than 2 Factions</strong></p>
<p>How awesome does a massive 200 player on screen battle between 3 different factions all vying for the same spot sound? To me it sounds like a lot of fun and a huge time sink. With an entire province devoted to open world PvP, I am actually excited about it, although I have never been much of a PvPer myself (Thanks again, Blizzard.) I look forward to getting a band of friends together, sneaking into enemy territory and terrorizing their forts and farms and draining their resources in intense strategy and mind games in order to crown on my own emperor.</p>
<p>I love the fact that there are 3 factions, because it will help so much with faction balancing issues. If one faction is simply overpowering the other two individually, then those two factions can work together in order to overcome the more powerful faction. These possibilities of temporary truces and alliances of necessity implement a realism into the game that is tough to create with only two factions.</p>
<p><strong>Reason #4: The Super Server &amp; Playing with Like-Minded Gamers</strong></p>
<p>Zenimax Online is implementing a single &ldquo;Mega&rdquo; server for TESO where all players will be on the same server, just in different phases of each area. This means that all your friends will automatically be on the same server as you. It means finding your guild members isn&rsquo;t going to be an issue when the game starts up, you&rsquo;ll all be in the same place.</p>
<p>This server is also going to determine which phase to place you in based on certain demographics you answer when you first log on to the game. Age range, and play styles will effect who you are placed with and you&rsquo;ll be put into a phase with other like minded gamers. So for all those PvEers that like to dabble into PvP and RP, I&rsquo;ll see you there.</p>
<p><strong>Reason #5: User Defined Classes</strong></p>
<p>This has been a huge sticking point for many a gamer since MMOs first started. Why can&rsquo;t my mage tank a fight? Why can&rsquo;t my my priest fight with a two-handed broadsword? Is it too heavy? Am I not strong enough? Why can&rsquo;t my heavy armored, sword and board wielding warrior sneak around enemies instead of always rushing headfirst into them? Well those days should be over. While TESO is implementing classes, it will be considered more of a &ldquo;place to build upon&rdquo; instead of a completely defined class. You&rsquo;ll still have all the freedom to make your character unique to yourself.</p>
<p>So there it is, 5 solid reasons why TESO will be a unique MMO while still being true to its TES single-player roots. I truly hope that this game satisfies the TES followers and still keeps new MMO players interested so that this game can be truly successful.</p>
<p>Check back next Monday for more TESO talk. Tomorrow will be another article on a different game.</p>
<p>Until then, keep gaming.</p>
<p>~Jay</p>
</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.gameinformer.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=2576583" width="1" height="1">JayN7http://www.gameinformer.com/members/JayN7/default.aspxNarrative in Video Games/blogs/members/b/jayn7_blog/archive/2013/02/12/narrative-in-video-games.aspx2013-02-12T12:49:00Z2013-02-12T12:49:00Z<p>
<p>Hello everyone, Jay here with another blog on a topic that has been causing myself to grieve over for a couple weeks now.</p>
<p><a href="http://focusonegames.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/world-of-warcraft-1024x582.png"><img height="181" width="318" src="http://focusonegames.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/world-of-warcraft-1024x582.png?w=318&amp;h=181" alt="world-of-warcraft-1024x582" class=" wp-image-65 aligncenter" /></a></p>
<p>Recently, I have stopped playing World of Warcraft except for raid nights with my guild. I have respectable gear on my main and I have really only been working on gear up my alt, a monk tank needed for our raid groups. However, I have been finding my experience with the game extremely lacking. I feel like I am just doing a grind with each passing day. All there is to me is dailies, gearing up, running dungeons and LFR. Occasionally I&rsquo;ll go on an achievement run or help a friend get some achievements, but as much of a completionist as I am, there is no real motivation for me to do any of these achievements. Also, I don&rsquo;t want to even get started on how broken PvP on WoW is and how frustrating it is to jump into mid-season or even a month after the season has started.</p>
<p>Back to the reason that I can&rsquo;t seem to motivate myself to play WoW anymore: severe lacking of story. I have gone through every raid, every quest in the new expansion, every reputation, and every possible storyline I could find. I am so tired of the same fights, the same bosses, the same tactics, the same horrible voices (Sing, yes sing in agony) and how nothing new has been put into the game in months. Thank god for patch 5.2 to hopefully renew my faith in it for a little bit.</p>
<p>To me, the reason I play games is to interact with a story that I never could in real life. I want to make decisions, meet people, develop relationships, and discover new parts to a story in each subsequent play through. I want achievements to motivate me to find more storylines and areas that I hadn&rsquo;t before (such as in Skyrim.) It should be no surprise based on these reasons what my favorite video game is, or should I say video game series as there are three games more closely intertwined than any other games to date: Mass Effect.</p>
<p>Don&rsquo;t think that I believe everything in ME is perfect. The original left plenty wanting in the graphics department and I wasn&rsquo;t a real big fan of the gunplay in it either (I have always been and will always be, a Soldier.) The second was much better but the large amount of repetitive feeling missions kept me from replays sometimes, not to mention the absolutely torturous mini-games of hacking, matching, and probing that made me want to either tear my eyes out or fall asleep in my chair while do them. The third I was probably the biggest fan of, a good mixture of combat between the two, no terrible mini-games but I felt a little let down by the original ending because it did not explain enough, however with the extended cut I am content with my place in the Mass Effect world.</p>
<p><strong>NOTICE: HUGE SPOILER ALERT</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://focusonegames.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/masseffect3screen3_post3.png"><img height="240" width="400" src="http://focusonegames.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/masseffect3screen3_post3.png?w=400&amp;h=240" alt="MassEffect3Screen3_post3" class="aligncenter wp-image-66" /></a></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The biggest reason I love Mass Effect is because of the writing. The story was this awesome, all encompassing drama that would&rsquo;ve put most movies to shame. The decisions you had to make and the results from them were enough to pull at anyone&rsquo;s heartstrings. Some of them were easier for me (Ashley over Kaiden any day) while others made me want to start all over again and fix it (having Mordin die in the last mission of ME2) and other brought tears to my eyes (watching Legion sacrifice himself to bring peace between the quarians and geth.) I remember the day off Shepard and Garrus take on the Citadel during Mass Effect 3 where they are on top of a tunnel watching cars fly by. I never could let myself beat Garrus. Garrus meant too much to me as a friend, he was the guy I always had with me, someone who made it all the way through all 3 games and all 3 suicide missions. Here I was playing a game, and I felt just as much attachment to a group of pixels with a voice as I did to any of my friends in real life, and it completely blew me away. I have never had this happen to me before in a game and I was amazed at the way the writers of the Mass Effect series were able to make me feel that way.</p>
<p>The reason that I as a gamer go back to games and replay them is to experience a quality storyline and the emotions it made me feel while I was playing it. If you&rsquo;re the type of gamer who basically just plays games to kill everything and get achievements and grind reputation with factions: more power to you, I can&rsquo;t keep that up for very long. I cannot wait for a new game to come out with an amazing storyline and characters that are memorable and easy to grow attached to. Hopefully with some serious ties to Greek Mythology. Maybe I should start writing one myself.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Until next time,</p>
<p>~Jay</p>
</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.gameinformer.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=2576578" width="1" height="1">JayN7http://www.gameinformer.com/members/JayN7/default.aspxFocus-One Gaming, an Introduction/blogs/members/b/jayn7_blog/archive/2013/02/12/focus-one-gaming-an-introduction.aspx2013-02-12T12:47:00Z2013-02-12T12:47:00Z<p>
<p>Focus-One Gaming is a video game blog primarily made to release the thoughts from the mind of myself, Jay.</p>
<p>Video games have been a passion of mine for many years now and I have never had so much enthusiasm as when I am discussing games. Whether I am convincing someone to try a game, getting hyped for a new game coming out, or going over in fine detail an epic moment in my gaming lifetime, I have noticed that time always flies when I am talking about gaming. I hope to invite many like minded people to discuss topics and pour more life into the video game industry.</p>
<p>A little bit about myself as a gamer:</p>
<ul>
<li>I am an MMO junkie, putting well over 2 years of actual playtime of my life into World of Warcraft and other MMOs.</li>
<li>I enjoy RPGs the most, especially the awesome stories of Mass Effect, Skyrim, &amp; Dragon Age: Origins all of which I have devoted significant portions of my life to.</li>
<li>I am both a PC and Console gamer, I prefer my FPSes on consoles and most other shooters while I prefer my sword wielding and magic casting on PCs as a general rule.</li>
<li>I am avid about the benefits of video games to people</li>
</ul>
<p>Easiest place to find me:</p>
<p><a href="http://focusonegames.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/hunter_intro_pic.jpg"><img height="214" width="300" src="http://focusonegames.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/hunter_intro_pic.jpg?w=300&amp;h=214" alt="W4_080.psd" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-5" /></a></p>
<p>World of Warcraft: Hydraxis (US) Alliance under the name Jaytel or Jayhawke where I am a guild officer and raid leader for the guild Infinite Progression.</p>
<p>~Jay</p>
</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.gameinformer.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=2576574" width="1" height="1">JayN7http://www.gameinformer.com/members/JayN7/default.aspx